Richmond
Located 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver, Richmond - known as the Island City as it is cut off from the mainland by the north and south arms of the Fraser River - offers scenic natural areas, bike paths, educational highlights as well as being the site of the Vancouver International Airport and the Richmond Oval.
Click on the map pins below to view the available activities within Richmond
Richmond offers the best of both worlds in this oceanside city - with growth in the 1990s, the area has become a suburban city catering to people working in nearby downtown Vancouver while offering the close knit communities still intertwined with farmland and historical seaside communities. Tracks of land have been set aside offering visitors and locals biking opportunities or to explore the coastline and forests found within the city limits.
Named after a local farmstead by immigrants from Australia, Richmond was first established as a municipality in 1879. Farming took hold in the area as flood waters from the surrounding Fraser River deposited rich silt and providing a varieties of foods grown in the fertile land. It wasn't until 1990 that the area was designated a city as its proximity to the downtown, nearby international airport and closeness to the US Border popularized the location.
Its historical connections are highly celebrated as many museums can be found throughout the area, especially in the Steveston area. Once known as Salmonopolis, the south-western tip of Richmond was once a thriving fishing community with the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and Britannia Shipyards supplying canned fish worldwide. In the late 1970s, the cannery was closed and reopened to the public as museums and designated national historic sites in the mid 1980s. Now a beautiful seaside town, Steveston draws thousands to its quaint streets, piers, fish markets, museums and surrounding oceanside beaches and parks.
Richmond, British Columbia offers visitors plenty of activities to do, places to eat and coastal views to enjoy. With its distinctive natural and suburban setting, Richmond is one of Greater Vancouver's most beautiful outlying areas.
